Pop-ups: Deals, Pics and a Prom Princess

Introducing: Pop-up Shop Deal of the Week!

Starting this Thursday, June 20, we’ll be posting a fantastic new deal from one of our five  new pop-up shops every week. Each week we’ll feature a different shop and a different deal, so be sure to check the blog, our Facebook  page or our Twitter feed every Thursday.

The inaugural Pop-up Shop Deal of the Week is from Natasha at E-Closet:

Get 20% OFF our Accessories! Starts Friday, June 21st & ends Thursday, June 27th. (Regular priced items only. Not valid with other offers.)

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E-closet | 1801 Danforth Avenue
Monday-Saturday 11-6 | Sunday 12-5

Pop-up Prom Princess

Tina Novotny shares this great story about one of our pop-ups, In This Closet, doing good in the ‘hood:

Colleen McDonald and Christina Di Stasio just opened their pop-up shop fashion boutique, In This Closet: Thrift for Her, at 1765 Danforth Avenue in mid-June, and already they’ve found a wonderful way to give back to the community.

Co-owner Christina Di Stasio approached a neighbour who is a guidance counsellor at Notre Dame High School, an all-girls Catholic secondary school in Toronto founded by the Sisters of the Congregation of Notre Dame, and asked whether there was a student who wouldn’t be able to buy a stand-out formal dress to wear to her prom.

“My neighbour was really excited and took our proposal to the head of guidance, who found our prom princess for us, Ramorna Antoine,” said Di Stasio. “Ramorna will come to the store for a final fitting of her dress at 11:00 on Thursday (the 20th) and a terrific stylist, Bernadette Lewis, is volunteering her time to do hair and make-up.”

“We had such a warm welcome to the neighbourhood and are so thrilled to be part of this great opportunity with the pop-up shops, we wanted to share our good fortune with others,” said McDonald. “Connecting with an area high school and being able to make a dream come true just seemed the perfect way for our store to pay it forward.”

Way to pay it forward, In This Closet!

Launch Fun

Finally, a big thanks to everyone who came out last weekend to shop and celebrate the opening of the new pop-up shops. Yummy Stuff’s cupcakes went like, well, faster than hotcakes, the various bands’ music added a great vibe, Dominic and Stephen led a crowd of 20 through the history of the ‘hood and pop-up shops, and artists Chris and Tak made the sidewalks a little more colourful for the day.

Special thanks to local lighting and audio experts  Show Pro for providing our music equipment, and to the Danforth Mosaic BIA for lending out theirs too.

Here are a few pics for those who missed the fun.

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Artist Tak making the sidewalk outside Yummy Stuff as colourful as the new store.
Dominic and Stephen discuss Danforth East's history on their walking tour.
Dominic and Stephen discuss Danforth East’s history on the walking tour.
Kevin & Bruce of popular band God Made ME Funky entertain shoppers.
Kevin & Bruce of popular band God Made ME Funky entertain shoppers.
Shoppers finding bargains at Cheap Thrills.
Shoppers finding bargains at Cheap Thrills.

DECA’s latest round of pop-up shops will be open for up to 6 months on the Danforth. Get all the SHOP DETAILS here. Please support our community’s efforts to revitalize our commercial strip by taking some time to visit and support these exciting pop-up enterprises.

Pop-UP with DECA – Call for tenant applications

Pop-UP With DECA This June!

The call for tenants for the next round of Pop-Up Shops is on!

Deadline is May 15, 2013, we’re hoping for Pop-Up-a-Looza of 16 – 18 shops opening in mid-June. Help us to renew East Danforth!

Application + FAQs + guidelines for the June launch of Pop Up Shops can be found at the DECA website. Tell your friends. Tell your family. See below for more info!

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The Danforth East Community Association (DECA) is now calling for proposals for pop-up shops to take place in otherwise empty spaces on Danforth between Monarch Park Avenue and Main Street.

Deadline for applications is midnight Wednesday May 15, 2013.

The Pop-Up Project aims to bring activity to Danforth’s otherwise empty properties between Monarch Park Avenue and Main Street. DECA brokers temporary access to these spaces to allow arts projects, unique enterprises or community activities to flourish. This generates activity and interest in the east end of the city, enhances the cultural life of the city, provides opportunities to groups/individuals who would otherwise have limited access to space, and improves the look and feel of Danforth. Click here to read more about The Pop-up Project.

THERE ARE VACANT STORE FRONTS ON THE DANFORTH WE ARE CURRENTLY LOOKING TO FILL. ARE YOU INTERESTED?

WHAT ARE THE TERMS AND COSTS?

TERMS
Up to six-month rolling leases with a 30-day notice period.

COSTS
Variable – Participation Fee is $165 per week (to cover taxes, utilities and admin). This equates to approximately $750 per month. After the first month, tenants will be expected to pay landlords the participation fee plus 10% of sales beyond $7500 each month.

WHO SHOULD APPLY?

• If you run a unique store that will draw shoppers to the neighbourhood

• If you are a maker of fashion, jewellery, housewares, art objects, toys, kids clothes, trinkets or other fantastic things; or a creator of prints, photography, illustration, sculpture, painting, textiles or other art

• If you want to run a gallery or exhibition space for yourself or a collective of artists

• If you run a fitness, activity or learning program for children, youth and/or adults

• If you sell specialty products that aren’t currently available in the neighbourhood

• If you are part of a small collective of emerging creative professionals with diverse practices but a shared vision wanting to make your own hub in a shared office space

• If you have a low impact, small scale art studio practice suited for a clean office environment (photography, illustration, design, fashion, video, animation etc)

• If you run a community/not-for-profit project which would otherwise not have access to space

THERE ARE THREE INITIAL CONSIDERATIONS FOR YOUR PROPOSAL

1. UNIQUE OR ORIGINAL PRODUCTS/WORKS
An opportunity for entrepreneurs, artists, craftspeople and designers who have products and/or activities and what to expand their audiences and test a bricks & mortar retail and gallery opportunity. They might already sell online or at markets, or have a body of works ready to show. In all instances we are looking for enterprise at a stage that won’t compete directly/unfairly with existing business. We encourage artists who create their own works and entrepreneurs who sell products not available on our strip of Danforth between Monarch Park Avenue and Main Street.

2. OPENING HOURS
The projects must be publicly accessible (shops, galleries, and activity studios), have set hours and be open five days a week (some exceptions apply, depending on location). Office or studio spaces don’t need to be open to the public, however from time to time we would expect you to participate in promotional activities such as open studio showings, or office tours. Again, you need to use the space to its full potential (not just for a few hours a week).

3. READY NOW!
You must be ready to go immediately. There is a very tight turn around to get into these spaces and to maximize the 30-day notice period. That means once we have approved your proposal, you will only have a couple of weeks to prepare the space and open up.

Remember: we want these spaces to directly benefit the creators themselves, and they cannot compete unfairly with existing city businesses between Monarch Park Avenue and Main Street.

THE SPACES ARE NOT SUITABLE FOR

• Wholesalers

• Franchises

• Businesses that require extensive additional infrastructure, machinery or appliances beyond what is available i.e. restaurants; major manufacturers/factories

• Business that might disrupt surrounding businesses i.e. clubs; bars

• Businesses that do not have the appropriate licences to distribute the items they are selling, for example, alcohol

We are looking for can-do people who do interesting things and can present them in a professional and beautiful way. You need to be excited by this opportunity and plan to make the absolute most of it.

Deadline for applications is midnight Wednesday May 15, 2013.

Congratulating Catherine Porter: Queen’s Diamond Jubilee Medal recipient!

She was instrumental in the formation of the Danforth East Community Association when it started around her dining room table seven years ago. She has dressed up as broccoli outside the subway at 7:00 a.m. to promote the East Lynn Farmer’s Market. She hauled barricades up and down the hill at East Lynn Park on market Thursdays, with a baby strapped to her back. She stalked every landlord along Danforth Avenue between Coxwell and Woodbine in order to get spaces for the pop-up shop project. But what is so special about Catherine Porter is that her energy is contagious; and so is her hope and optimism about how much better our community can be if we all put our hearts into it. And it looks like we are not the only ones who think so!

Catherine Porter will receive a Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal in honour of her excellence in community building. Her fellow DECA Board members could not be more proud of her!

Please join us tomorrow afternoon when Beaches-East York MP Matthew Kellway will present Catherine with this national award of distinction: Saturday, February 23 at 3:00 p.m. at 1803 Danforth Avenue. This is the location of one of DECA’s February pop-up shops, and since Catherine was instrumental in sprucing up the space, it is very fitting to gather there to celebrate her.

(PS: Catherine would want us to also mention that space is available for rent, so commercial tenants, please come and check it out!)

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